Beating out more than 190 other teams, the U-High Robotics Team placed third with its alliance partners in the state competition on the weekend of Feb. 21. 

After going undefeated in all 16 invitational matches, U-High was the top seed heading into the regional competition. When the team got to state, they went 3-2 in qualifying matches. With their alliances — “The Incredibots” from Romeoville High School and “Derivation” from Naperville schools — U-High went 2-1 in the quarter-final matches, then lost the two next division final matches, coming up short to “Unknown Element” alliance and the “Robotheosis” alliance.

“It’s been a pretty magical journey. When we started this club, I had no idea what was going to happen,” junior Nicholas Pietraszek said about the team that doubled membership to 40 people in its second year. 

Along with competing, U-High Robotics members have reached out to four nearby middle schools. Through presentations and showing off their robot, team members hope to spread their love of robotics and excite middle school students. 

Nicholas thinks the future is very bright. He thanked club sponsor Darren Fuller, coach Teresa Serangeli and all team members for its success. Nicholas has high hopes for the future. 

He said, “The excitement is only building for robotics. and I’m really excited to see not only what our teams accomplish this year, but next year.”